My parents have fancy satellite television. One of their new channels this season is Dog TV. Apparently it’s meant to be what you leave on for your dog while you’re away from home.
The minute or two I watched were calming classical music, which is scientifically proven to have a positive effect on dogs, accompanied by pictures of dogs lolling in meadows or what have you. The nice thing I could see about Dog TV is that it gives you something to turn on quickly that, at least in the “relaxing” program that I saw, isn’t likely to have trigger noises like barking or doorbells. Until the last six months or so, Silas freaked out whenever a doorbell rang on a TV commercial. Silas has never seemed to actually watch anything on TV, so I assume the pleasant dog pictures exist mostly to make the owners feel better. As weird as it seems, the Dog TV people have their head in the right place–they even suggest you make sure to watch the programs with your dog the first time, to make sure that he enjoys them without becoming too excited. Not something that I’d pay for, but it seems harmless enough.
One afternoon while I was running some errands, Mom got the idea to turn on Dog TV for Silas. She felt bad for him, because he was just sitting on the couch, “looking sad.”
After a few minutes, he got up, went to the other room, and got into his crate.
There goes my lucrative spokes-dog contract.
I don’t watch just any old TV program.
My Imperfect Dog 
Every dog we have ever had, except Thunder, has gone nuts when a doorbell on tv rings. Especially if it has the same tone as the one on our door…lol. We leave music on for our dogs when we aren’t home. Have done that since they were pups. I like a radio station with both music and speaking. The place where we train leaves country music on in the barn for the calves. I guess we do our own version of dog tv. 🙂
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Our doorbell box is mounted upstairs, so I guess he’s learned to differentiate where the sound comes from. Of course, he’s usually barking LONG before someone actually rings the bell, so maybe the doorbell by itself just doesn’t bother him.
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Once again proves that dogs are smarter than most humans.
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It’s a clever idea to play on people’s guilt in leaving their dogs alone in the house, but my dogs totally ignore it and go off to another room. They seem to prefer the radio.
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I think dog TV needs to work on the visual aspect. I would never leave this station on for my dog because she reacts to dogs and other animals (and sometimes cartoon animals, etc) on TV. When I am home she is pretty good now at looking at me to get a treat instead of running up to the TV and jumping and barking. But I don’t know what she would do if I wasn’t home. I know other dogs that react in a similar way so showing other dogs on TV probably isn’t a great idea. Maybe just landscapes would be better.
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The only dog I would leave the TV or radio on for was Linus – my foster puppy. He needed the background noise so he wouldn’t flip out when I left him alone in the crate. Blueberry reacts to some of the sounds on the TV and even if she notices a dog walking across the screen. But she’s savvy enough now to distinguish knocking/door bell on TV vs. real life.
LOL – I love that your mom thought Silas looked so sad he needed a little Dog TV to brighten his day! 😉
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Haha. Keep up your high standards, Silas. 🙂
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Ha…I guess dog TV is not for every dog. My brother’s dog is obsessed with tv. She recognizes the sight or sound of any animal on tv and goes ballistic. Classical music or not, it would be non-stop insanity if she watched dog TV!
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